Saturday, September 26, 2009

The amount of educational content available from the BBC is simply amazing. No matter how many times I visit the various BBC websites, it seems like there is always something new for me to learn about. This evening, through a link on Silvia Tolisano's Langwitches blog, I learned about the BBC's World News for Children podcasts. The daily podcasts are roughly four to five minutes long and targeted to an audience of children seven to fourteen years old. The scripts from each podcast are made available for every new episode.

Applications for EducationThese daily news podcasts from the BBC could be an excellent resource for anyone teaching current events. To keep kids reading, you could have them read the scripts while listening to the podcasts.

Earlier this week Reuters produced a short video overview of the last sixty years in China. The two and one half minutes video takes a quick look at the impact of significant events including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

The video is embedded below.

Applications for EducationWhen using videos in my classroom I generally prefer to use short clips rather than longer documentary films (although I have used those too). Short clips like this one don't strain my students' attention spans while at the same time providing a visual and audio introduction to or review of a lesson.